The present invention relates to a device and method suitable for marking a laboratory sample cassette having a marking or writing surface.
A tissue processing laboratory sample cassette may have a marking surface disposed generally at an angle of 45° to the main body of the cassette. There are many cassettes on the market that have different physical properties. A clamp used to hold such a cassette so that its marking surface can be marked has to be adjusted to suit cassettes with different physical properties such as their shape.
GB-A-2235163 discloses a device for clamping and marking a laboratory sample cassette having a marking surface disposed at an angle to the main body of the cassette. An unmarked cassette is held by a clamp so that the writing surface is positioned to be marked by a stylus of a plotting mechanism. A foil tape is placed between the stylus and the cassette marking surface and the stylus is heated. Marking is produced on the marking surface by dragging the heated stylus over the foil tape.
A problem with the device is that the marking produced may not be that sharp. Also, there is a problem in that the foil tape can be damaged by dragging the stylus over it.